For the Ones She Loves
by TwilightPrncss
Summary: He is gone, but it does not mean she can not keep fighting for the ones she loves, for as long as she can. One-shot. Features Esme, with Eleazar and Carmen momentarily. Rated T for character death, but anyone who loves Esme and the Breaking Dawn movie fight-scene can enjoy it, I hope. Reviews are well appreciated.


_Love is just a history that they may prove_  
_ And when you're gone I'll tell them my religion's you_

_ J'veux pas mourir toute seule_

- Bloody Mary, Lady Gaga

Aching emptiness. Deafening Silence. Debilitating pain. Esme stood still in the middle of a destructive clash between the Volturi and her family. Her friends. Her allies. But it was difficult to move. To see. Even to breathe. A woman she had long considered a friend from her sister coven in Denali was dead. Torn apart mercilessly. Unforgiven. Two Quileutes siblings, _children_ in their own right, had fallen in battle, the elder doing so by taking Esme's place in eternal sleep. Her own _son_, fiercely loyal and unquestionably gifted, was no match for the Volturi's guards and child prodigy.

Esme looked up, her eyes glossy. Her fingers still tingled from where Carlisle had held her hand, and the mere thought brought her to her knees. He had saved her. Stood by her. Fixed her broken soul. Given her everything. He was her sire. Husband. Inspiration. Mentor. Best friend. Soul mate. Gone. Carlisle was _gone_. Dead. His death instigated the battle, and taking his head cost her heart. Her sanity. Her soul.

Suddenly her eyes came into sharp focus to see a Volturi guard racing toward her. He was slight, with bronze skin and angry red eyes, his mouth contorted in rage. It took her a few seconds to realize he was screaming. Moments later she managed to pull herself up off the snow; and he launched himself at her, his vermilion cloak flapping wildly behind him. She feinted to the left at the last second, his body careening past her. Esme turned around to see one of the wolves sink his teeth in the guard's head, guttural snarls erupting from his throat. She turned to her right.

Eleazar was fighting furiously with two massive guard members. Block. Feint. Attack. Miss. Miss. Choking hold. Escape, barely. It hurt. How many times had she laughed with him? Conversed with him? She broke into a run, feeling as if she would never reach him. He was on his knees by the time she did, and she threw herself at the guard now standing over Eleazar. With a well placed kick to the temple, the man flew backward, allowing Eleazar to take the other by surprise, flipping him over his shoulder. But she soon became separated from him.

The guard she had engaged growled, his eyes burning with rage. He thrust out his hand, aiming to grab her neck. Esme threw up her arm, attempting to block the attack. Before she could blink, both of her arms were locked behind her in an iron grip, followed by a strong force that brought her down on her knees. She gasped out, though it was impossible for her to feel pain, fulling expecting to join her beloved. But fate kept her well looked after, regrettably. At this point, any protection was a torture.

A blur knocked into Esme and her assailant, knocking them both on their sides. Esme pushed herself up, her movement slower than syrup. Heavier than lead. She found herself looking into the fierce, liquid gold eyes of Carmen, whose face held enough pity to last Esme a lifetime. A lifetime that could not expire soon enough. They stood together, watching the guard as he renewed his assault.

It could have lasted hours. Each woman blocked and ducked. Kicked and punched. Suddenly, Esme was thrown back, the snow covering her head and soaking through her hair and jacket; and despite her aching soul, a fire surged within her. Carmen was her closest friend in Denali, aside from Eleazar, and considering the latter was alive and fighting for his wife, family, and fallen friends, Esme suddenly felt obligated to protect the former. Fiercely. Even if it cost her her life… or at least, what was left of it.

She rose from the snow to a crushing sight. Literally. The man stood almost a foot taller than Carmen, his beefy fingers squeezing her head. She could see the chips of her face fall away like dust, the cracks and crevices growing under the strain. Carmen's face was contorted as she tried desperately to grip the man's wrists, but he was too strong. And her faculties were failing.

A snarl erupted in Esme's ears, and she was surprised to find it was her own. She ran toward them, jabbing the strongest part of her palm into the man's temple in a perfect offensive stance. Carmen fell from his grasp, gasping. Esme knew that it would take a minute or so for her friend to regain her ability to fight, the damage to her crown extensive. Esme punched toward the man's head, but he deflected it masterfully, using his right hand to grasp her hair.

He yanked her toward him, twisting her body midair so that she hit his chest hard with her back. His left hand snaked around her torso, gripping her side before pulling her off the ground with ease, her boots dangling mere inches from the snow. And it was oddly comforting, in a masochistic way, to be held again. The guard tilted her head to the right, exposing her first vampire bite. The predecessor, as it came to be, of countless playful nibbles and passionate tastes. She felt his lips brush the bite, physically choking on the irony. _It will end as it began._

And it did end. The last in her line of vision was Edward and Bella working as if choreographed toward Aro's demise. It was almost easy, as her head ripped away from his bite, a searing pain flowering in her neck from the venom. The final sound she heard was a ringing as Carmen cried out, the devastation in her heart at her friend's death palpable. _It does not matter. They are safe. Carmen, and Eleazar. Tanya. Kate. Garrett. Alice. Rosalie. Emmett. Edward. Bella. Jacob. Renesmee. They will be all right. _As the flames approached her head, her eyes slipped closed, Carlisle's face ever present behind the pain. As it had been for almost a century. Unfailing. Unconditional._ I'm coming, my love. And I am _so_ sorry._

_This was based off a drabble prompt for Lady Gaga's song Bloody Mary: My character dies for yours. I wrote it for two friends, Kate and Kelly. It has an additional ending, but I didn't add it. It doesn't need it. This is my first published one-shot on . Reviews would much appreciated, even constructive criticism._

_Thank you for reading. Truly_ 3


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